Iowa and Illinois played a close contest through the first 20 minutes of the second round matchup on Thursday night, but the second half belonged to the Hawkeyes.

Iowa shot 51.7 percent from the floor and 52.2 percent from three-point range and outscored Illinois by 15 in the second half to post an 83-62 victory to round out Day 2 action of the B1G Tournament. It’s the first time in six years that the Hawkeyes have reached the Friday of the conference tourney.

The first half was entertaining, with the Hawkeyes taking a 37-31 advantage in the locker room. Midway through the second half, though, Iowa went on a 23-5 run to create major separation with less than seven minutes left in the game, sealing the victory.

Four Hawkeyes scored in double figures, led by senior forward Nicholas Baer who scored 17 off the bench. Joe Wieskamp had 13 points and Tyler Cook added 12, most of which came via huge dunks. Ryan Kriener also had 11 points.

Thursday’s win snapped a four-game losing streak for Iowa, and now it’ll advance to the quarterfinal round to take on Michigan on Friday night. The two teams played just once in the regular season, with the Hawkeyes winning the lone matchup 74-59.

Michigan and Iowa will go head to head at approximately 9:25 p.m. ET.

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB